Practice Report: Monday

The Rebels held their 13th - of 15 - spring practice session today under beautiful weather conditions in the Oxford area. What did Coach Ed Orgeron think of the workout? Read about it inside.

Orgeron seemed quite pleased after Monday's practice. He said the Rebels got a lot done as they corrected some wrongs from Saturday's scrimmage.

"It was a very positive scrimmage Saturday," he said. "Today we had a lot of red zone work, first down work, a lot of big plays by the offense. Guys really responded. A very competitive day."

Looking back to Saturday, he said he saw lots of good things from the Rebels.

"I thought the enthusiasm was good, the execution was good. The effort was really good. A couple of interceptions thrown by the offense should have been caught and not intercepted. But the defense had a couple big plays by our DBs which was good to see. They're breaking on the ball. They're improved over what we had last year.

"Not as many sacks. Better protection by the offensive line on Saturday, and today I thought the defensive line had a fantastic day with batted balls and pass rushing. They really got after it. So it's been back and forth between the defensive line and the offensive line."

Orgeron pointed out some individuals who did good things today.

"I thought Marcus Tillman had an excellent day. Greg Hardy scrimmaged and had a pretty good day today, doing some good things. I can't say enough about David Densmore, Ben Benedetto, Daverin Geralds, all those guys on the defensive line are holding their own and playing well. Really pleased with those guys stepping up.

"Jamie Phillips at linebacker had another good day. Jonathan Cornell had his best day. Cordera Eason had 127 yards rushing Saturday. He had some big runs. Shay Hodge came out of the scrimmage as the best receiver."

Orgeron mentioned that Hodge had gotten stronger since the season.

"The offseason program has helped him. He's become stronger for sure."

Orgeron said there were some things that impress him about DB Cassius Vaughn.

"Obviously he's coming in with a great work ethic every day and attention to detail, and you need that playing corner. So he's coming along."

Orgeron said the defense has gotten better on third down plays.

"Good pressure. Four-man rush, some blitzes. We're getting some good pressure on the quarterback, a lot more this year than we did last year."

Orgeron said as the week goes on the team will be divided for Saturday's 1 p.m. contest, and the coaches for each team will be assigned.